The World
Youth Day festival in Lisbon lasted a week. It will continue to be seriously discussed for at least another month, and it will stay in the memories of more
than a million young pilgrims for years.
Christians in
their teens and twenties from nearly every country in the world arrived barely
knowing a word of Portuguese, but hugs immediately became the international
“language of love.”
A few days
before the arrival of Pope Francis, the highly innovative Portuguese artist
Bordalo II managed to break into one of the main venues and roll out a “walkway
of shame”, a carpet up steps to an altar from which the pope was to deliver
speeches. The carpet consisted of huge images of €500 banknotes. It was a
symbolic protest against the amount of public money being spent on the
religious event while so many people in the capital and nearby cities are
homeless or living in poverty.
Prime
Minister Antonio Costa downplayed the costs and said
the government and municipalities involved would benefit from their investments
in the World Youth Day (WYD) event.
The “walkway of shame” was also a reminder of the “shame of silence”, the
cover-up of child sex abuse by the clergy that persisted within the Catholic
Church for decades. Shortly before the pope’s arrival, the cardinal-patriarch
of Lisbon said the church was “fully committed” to resolving the scandal.
Local Lisbon residents were far from happy about the disruption being
caused to their normal daily lives by the mass of young Christian visitors. And
there was some very unchristian behaviour going on as well. Pilgrims had to be
warned of scams such as car drivers, falsely claiming to be closely associated
with the event organisers, charging exorbitant taxi fares.
Protests and strikes by local transport workers, doctors, nurses,
teachers and rubbish collectors did not seem to disrupt the tsunami of
festivities that got underway on Tuesday August 1, the eve of the pope’s
arrival. By then more than a million pilgrims were reportedly in the city ready
to enjoy various celebrations, including not only special religious services,
but musical and theatrical performances and sporting competitions.
Less than
half of the pilgrims had formally registered for the festivities. Of those who
did register, the biggest groups were Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. More than 27,000 had crossed the Atlantic from
the United States.
On flying in
from Rome, the pontiff’s plane was escorted by Portuguese air force fighter
jets. Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, welcomed the pope and his
entourage “with open arms” at the Figo Maduro military airport. The tight
security in place included an extra large police presence in Lisbon and a ban
on drones flying over Fatima when the pope went there. While the safety
arrangements were secure, the Portuguese PSP police union pointed to
“deplorable hygiene and cleanliness standards” for it members.
On his first
day in Lisbon the pope expressed concerns about euthanasia, the environment and
war within Europe. Later, in a private meeting, the pope spoke with 13 victims
who had been sexually abused by members of the clergy. He “listened to them
intently,” according to a Vatican spokesperson. Francis clearly deplored the
weak response of the Portuguese Catholic hierarchy to the hideous scandal in
this country. Before the truth fully emerged, the church hierarchy had claimed
that “only a handful” of priests were involved. Francis lamented that this had
driven many of the faithful away from the church.
Later in the
week, the pontiff shared his thoughts on many other subjects including abortion,
climate change, the importance of charity, and the need to avoid being fooled
by false social media disinformation.
Two hundred thousand turned
out to greet the pope with cheers of delight by the time he had arrived at 8.35
on Friday morning for his short visit to Fatima. The crowds lined the route for
the popemobile from the Fatima heliport, and filled into the vast concourse
within the sanctuary in front of the Fatima Basilica overlooking the Shrine
where the three shepherd children are believed to have witnessed the apparitions
of the Virgin Mary in 1917. Francis met and blessed babies during his two-hour
stay before returning to Lisbon.
Having spoken repeatedly about the gravest challenges facing
humanity and the Catholic Church, including the war in Ukraine and child sex
abuse, during Mass on his final day in Portugal, the pontiff pleaded with young
people “not to be afraid” and that they are “the present and the future.”
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